Local Scene Profile: Rebecca Agiewich

by Lydia Pottle Currie

One day I'm going to be a famous writer and every boy who's ever wronged me is going to regret it. There I'll be on the back of my book, gazing out at the world with soft yet cynical brown eyes, my long hair just the slightest bit windblown, looking unbearably brilliant, beautiful, and rich.
--- Breakup Babe, 08/12/02

Local writer Rebecca Agiewich leveraged her popularity in the blogosphere to win a contract with Random House/Ballantine. Here she shares the secrets of her success.

How did you realize that your blog's audience had become very large?

Well, the hit counter was my first clue. Clearly, there were a lot of readers out there who thought that Breakup Babe was worth a daily visit. I added comment functionality to the blog about three months after my first post, and a community has grown up around that. I was also lucky enough to be listed in MSNBC's "Best of Blogs" about six months after I started, and that increased my traffic a lot.

When you initially pitched your book idea to agents and publishers, it wasn't immediately snapped up. Did you succeed with an agent as a result of changing your pitch, or did your agent have a different take on marketing your book than you had previously heard?

I changed my pitch. After making the rounds once without success, I spent almost a whole year reworking my proposal and writing some sample chapters. When I was ready to try again, I put out a call for an agent on my blog. One of my readers recommended Elisabeth Weed, who I already knew slightly through my involvement with the Richard Hugo House, and we turned out to be a good fit. I continued my revamp for several months, with Elisabeth's help, before sending out to publishers again.

At what point in the process of transforming Breakup Babe from blog to book did you decide to fictionalize the project? What led you to make that decision?

It was clear to me fairly early on that an overarching narrative would give me more creative freedom than simply compiling a series of blog posts. So I wrote a story that included snippets from the blog, but that didn't rely heavily on it. After I signed with my agent, she encouraged me to use more of the blog in the book, which I did. Then my editor at Random House said that she thought the book would be stronger if I used blog posts even more liberally, and asked me to do a rewrite in that format. She liked that rewrite and offered me the contract, but it soon became clear to both of us that I would have to heavily fictionalize my blog entries to make them carry the story. So it seemed appropriate at that point to turn the book into a novel inspired by my blog and my real-life experiences.

In September of 2004, Random House/Ballantine expressed interest in your project. Did they ask for any significant changes to your material as a condition of publication?

As I said, they wanted the book to be more "in the voice of the blog." I rewrote one chapter, submitted it, and was offered a contract. Now I'm in the process of rewriting the entire manuscript.

Please tell us something about the process of finishing your manuscript. Is the house editor involved at this point?

The manuscript is due in August, and I'm about halfway through. My editor at Random House would have been happy to take delivery in toto when the deadline came, but I wanted more accountability and more opportunities to get feedback. I set up monthly deadlines for myself and make regular submissions to my editor. This helps me stay on track.

There are a whole lot of bloggers out there who dream of moving their work into print publication. You've realized that dream. What elements of your strategy/approach to the publication process were critical to your ultimate success?

In June of 2003, after my initial round of queries failed, I took a class called "Stalking the Nonfiction Narrative" with Nick O'Connell. This class was a huge help in creating the structure of my project. Nick continued to work with me after the class ended.

Additionally, I've also been lucky to have a wonderful community of friends, teachers, and fellow aspiring writers who’ve been willing to put a lot of time and energy into reading and critiquing my work. My agent has been a huge asset, as an editor when we first began and then as a representative of my work in the publishing world.

Rebecca Agiewich lives in Seattle and has written travel and outdoor articles for the Seattle P.I. and Lonely Planet. When not typing away in a coffeehouse, she works as a technical editor.

Lydia Pottle Currie is an English teacher currently doing her stint as an overeducated mommy. She washes diapers by day and looks for writing gigs by night.